Life on the Nile: A Cruise from Luxor to Aswan and back.

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4 -11 June 2007
by Howard Vaughan
bird images courtesy of Richard Bonser
http://www.nilecruised.com

My wife and I have recently returned from a River Nile Cruise from Luxor in
the north to Aswan in the south and back again and it would be apparent that
almost all of the breeding Nile Valley specialities are available with no extra
effort outside of the historical excursions already included in the holiday.

By going in June I had, in theory, missed out on migrant passage up the

valley but there was some evidence of either late individuals or summering
outside of the normal range. I suspect that by visiting anytime between mid-
March and mid-May you would have a far greater migration spectacle and the
o
temperature would be somewhat cooler. Everyday was over 110 f and on the
o
last full day it topped 124 f. This just too hot for anything other than
morning and evening activities.

The following account tracks our progress south, taking into account the
various visits to tombs, temples and the like and would seem to be the typical
itinerary for the multitude of ships or ‘boatels’, as they are known, that ply the
Nile.

The Nile Valley from the plane

Day One: Luxor to Edfu

The land around Luxor as you approach your boat from the airport is lush and
well cultivated and immediately gives you a taste of what is to come with
countless Cattle Egrets, Palm Doves and Hooded Crows. Ghostly Black-winged
Kites hunt from the telegraph wires and brick red Nile Valley race Swallows
flick across the fields. It very quickly becomes apparent that the commonest
small bird is our declining House Sparrow. They certainly do not have a
population problem in Egypt.
Our first evening on the boat added other herons including Squacco and Night
along with many Little and Cattle Egrets. Six European Bee-eaters should
certainly have been further north by now. However, it was my first Pied
Kingfishers that stole the show. Right at the top of my want list, they were to
become a daily feature of the cruise with parties of up to 12 birds seen. They
even occasionally hitched a lift on the stern of the boatel, using a flag pole as
a look out point.

Day Two: Edfu to Aswan with visits to the temples at Edfu and Kom-
ombo.
This first journey took us through the night and the very narrow Esna Lock, so
we awoke berthed alongside a fabulous piece of marsh at Edfu. Fortunately,
we were moored on the outside of the stack of boatels so I had an
uninterrupted view. This is not always the case.

The mid-river marsh at Edfu

Herons were everywhere. Squaccos by the dozen hunted on the floating

surface weed, now in the company or several Purple Herons and huge green
backed Purple Gallinules could be seen crashing around. The height the boat
gives you is a real asset as you can look down into the reed clumps. Similarly,
this is the only way that I got to see Clamorous Reed Warblers. They are
indeed noisy but tend to stay well hidden within the five metre high reeds.
Just like Great Reed Warbler the sound travels easily and you can easily hear
them way out across the river. I subsequently heard this species along the
whole length of the trip. Pygmea race Yellow Wagtails buzzed from reedbed
song posts but it took me till day three to work out that the peculiar repetitive
buzzing coming from the river banks was from singing Graceful Prinias and
not from a cicada as I suspected.
 Clamourous Reed Warbler

Edfu temple was dedicated to Horus and is quite spectacular and was home
to Common Kestrels, Sparrows, Doves and my first Common Bulbuls of the
trip.

The pylons of Edfu Temple

However it was the two pair of nesting Little Green Bee-eaters that caught my
eye as they took out huge multi-coloured hornets from the temple walls and
surrounding wires. This is the race cleopatra with an all green throat and very
long central tail streamers and it really is a small, looking no more than
sparrow-sized minus the tail!
 Edfu to Kom-ombo

The next section on the river took us to the temples of Sobek and Haroeris at
Kom-ombo passing a wealth of lush riverbank, fields and marshes en-route. I
gave up counting the ‘normal’ herons at this point but did add several Grey
Herons and four Little Bitterns to the list and much to my surprise, three
separate Striated Herons. They seemed quite happy perching on small boats
moored to the bank rather than lurking in the vegetation. Spur-winged
Plovers were nesting on sandbanks and seeing off the Hooded Crows while
flocks of Whiskered Terns in very plumage imaginable were encountered
along with several stunning White-winged Blacks and five Gull-billed Terns. I
do not believe any of these tern species breed in Egypt but the Whiskered
Terns certainly appeared to be taking food back into an area of floating reed.
More Gallinules were seen (including youngsters) and Hoopoes, Bulbuls and
even Crested Larks could be picked out when we were especially close to
shore. Wire checking resulted in a couple more Little Green Bee-eaters (LGB)
and four stunning Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters were also seen. Even greener
than the LGBs! Two Black Kites of the recently split Yellow-billed form Nile
cruised overhead.

Spur-winged Plover
Kom-ombo is quite magical being right on the edge of the river and was the
first site we visited with some colour still on the reliefs and home to several
mummified crocodiles. The wires around the temple held at least three pair of
LGB while a couple of male Olivaceous Warblers sang heartily from the trees
around the riverside cafés. Another, melodious, thrush like song may well
have been a Rufous Bush-chat but the venders were particularly persistent
once you were outside the temple grounds and we headed back for the
boatel. The vantage point afforded views over the village before departing
and a couple of Black-winged Kites hunted from the powerlines while Bulbuls
played tag in some mango trees. Four Pallid Swifts hawked around the palms
and ten House Martins were nesting around some taller buildings. This is
another species that I can’t find as a known breeder in Egypt.

Kom-ombo

Final leg for the day into Aswan before dusk. Was able to look right down into
an egretry and find eight juvenile and four adult Night Herons amongst the
‘white’ ones. A fine male Little Bittern flew past under our noses. The only
additional species was a flock of six Glossy Ibises heading south.

This stunning darter (Trithemis kirbyi) hitched a lift for several hours
Day three: Aswan, The Dams and Philae.
Up early and off to the High Dam holding back Lake Nasser. A big view of a
lot of water but ornithologically quiet although silvery Rock Martins were new
for me and a Turtle Dove was purring from the gardens.

Lake Nasser from the High Dam

The cataract below the Old Dam

On to the Temple of Philae next. This temple is largely dedicated to Isis and
Hathor and was one of many archaeological sites raised from the valley floor
after the original flooding caused by the Old Dam. It was taken apart and
rebuilt less than one kilometre from where it originally stood and you would
never know otherwise! The placid lake between the two dams hosted many
Pied Kingfishers and a few Whiskered Terns while the temple grounds and big
acacia trees allowed me at long last two discover that the strange buzzing call
was Graceful Prinia. Two birds showed very well and sang comfortably out in
the open.
 Graceful Prinia

House Sparrows and Olivaceous Warblers occupied most trees and two
Bulbuls seemed to be waiting for scraps. This was the site where I caught up
with my other ‘big want’ for the trip. There above me was a pair of Nile Valley
Sunbirds. Simply stunning with funny little calls. Even had the male
displaying!

The Temple of Philae

 The Temple of Philae

In the afternoon we headed out on the river off Aswan in a small motor boat
to have a look around Elephantine and Kitcheners Islands. Crystal-clear
waters and lots of birds (along with our first camels and the Cataract Hotel
where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile). All the herons were seen at
close range including a cracking adult Striated. The bright orange legs really
stand out on such a dark bird. Plenty of Kingfisher activity and Graceful
Prinias and Clamorous Reed Warblers were in song. Found an acacia with
what looked like weaver nests in it only to discover that they were made by
House Sparrows.

Cataract Hotel and Fallucca

After having a snack of bread, sesame and molasses with the local Nubians
(and their pet crocodile!) we aimed for Kitcheners Island which hosts the
Botanical Gardens and is well worth a visit. Eight more Sunbirds were seen
here along with tame Hoopoes, Bulbuls, Olivaceaous Warblers and you were
literally stepping over recently fledged Little and Cattle Egrets from the
colonies above you. Two Honey Buzzards drifted slowly north and two Yellow-
billed Kites cruised the river edge. The small rock and sand islets mid channel
held several Night Herons and three smart Senegal Thick-knees looking like
bigger billed less stripy Stone Curlews.

Senegal Thick-knee

Crystal clear waters…….

The evening was spent back at Philae for the light show which was actually
very good and not overly busy. No bird additions this time but several bat
species.
Day Four: The long trek to Abu Simbel
Up at stupid-o-clock and on the road in a huge coach convoy complete with
armed guard for our southerly dash through the desert. Not one bird from the
coach either on the way there or back! Built to honour Ramses II it was de-
constructed and moved 90m higher to allow for the flooding of Lake Nasser in
1971.
Abu Simbel has a reputation as the African outpost in the Western Palearctic
but a standard visit with a tour company as part of your package does not
really allow you to visit the bird rich areas nearby. It is worth visiting simply
for the astonishing facade of the temple and it was not birdless, with Rock
Martins and non-white-crowned White Crowned Black Wheatears always on
view and Yellow-billed Kites and Brown-necked Raven looking for scraps.
Several Gull-billed Terns passed over and Palm and Turtle Doves were
common. I was delighted to find a male Namaqua Dove in the grounds. They
really are as tiny as the books suggest. Reckon that I will have to do a
description for the Egyptian rarities committee for that one! Crested Larks
were to be found in the huge coach park.

The Temple at Abu Simbel

After a pleasant fallucca ride to relax us in the afternoon we set off back
down river from Aswan through the evening and overnight to Edfu. All the
usual suspects were seen along with another Senegal Thick-knee just north of
Kom-ombo and 20 Pallid Swifts and a Black-winged Kite nearby. Two Collared
type Doves were seen from the boatel but I could see nothing to say if they
were anything rarer although they were still out of range whichever species
they were. Several Yellow-billed Kites were picked up nearing dusk and one
was watched plucking dates from a palm tree in flight and then eating them
on the wing.
 Sunset heading north
Day Five: Edfu to Luxor
We were back on the move by first light and the first leg of the journey up to
the Locks at Esna produced a couple of new species for the trip with at least
20 Black-winged Stilts and three immature Spoonbills. Five Little Bitterns
added interest amongst the ‘common’ herons and four more White-winged
Black Terns were found with over 40 Whiskereds.

Esna Lock

Once through the locks the marshy areas became fewer and we were often
close to the bank allowing me to find Little Green and Blue-cheeked Bee-
eaters at three spots each along with two more Striated Herons, calling
Prinias and Clamorous Reed Warblers. Kestrels became common and an
intermediate Long-legged Buzzard was a surprise addition. Black-winged Kites
hovered close by and one was mobbed by Pied Kingfishers! A single huge
White Stork was seen catching frogs.

We arrived early-afternoon at our Luxor berth where would stay moored for
the rest of the trip and after lunch headed straight for the Temple of Karnack.
Very impressive but quiet bird wise with a couple of Little Green Bee-eaters,
Graceful Prinias, Bulbuls and Kestrels. The evening light show was to crowded
for my liking with several hundred camera flash hungry Brits doing their best
to spoil the atmosphere. I would stick with the one at Philae. No birds but lots
of bats including some monsters that I thought were Scops Owls to start with!

The Temple at Karnack (no sign of Jaws or James Bond though!)

Luxor Temple is equally grand and on all itineraries. Yellow-billed Kites and a
couple of Sunbirds were found.

Day Six: Valleys of the Kings and Queens, West Bank

Another early rise to get in and out of the valleys before the heat and the
crowds. Quite a bit to see in the farmland from the coach there and back
including two Yellow-billed and five Black-winged Kites, a Lanner on a pylon,
two more White Storks, six Little Green Bee-eaters and three Hoopoes.
 Black-winged Kite

The Valley of the Kings was devoid of any vegetation but even so there were
still House Sparrows around the information shelter. Two Brown-necked
Raven gave close views and higher up an immature Egyptian Vulture was a
welcome sight.

Some of the tombs are quite amazing and the colour allows you to identify
some of the species on the walls including a fine drake Pintail! There is no
point in paying extra to go into the tomb of Tut –Anhk-Amon as there is
nothing to see and the friezes are mouldering and incomplete due to the
haste at which the site was finished upon his untimely death. The various
Ramses tombs are very impressive but I would recommend for the more
energetic a climb up to the Tutmes II tomb (no:34). Well worth the effort. A
single Desert Lark was the only bird I saw in the nearby Valley of the Queens.

Valley of the Kings – West Bank

Back at berth, a pair of Sunbirds fed in the gardens opposite and two Glossy
Ibis flew over. Needless to say, herons all around.
Day Seven: Luxor Berth
There were options for additional excursions on this day but we opted for a
lazy day on the boat. The foreshore gardens hosted the Sunbirds again along
with several Hoopoes, Little Green Bee-eaters, Swallows, Prinias, Bulbuls and
heaps of Sparrows, Hoodies and Doves. Several Turtle Doves were seen and
Striated Heron number eight. The local noisy Pied Kingfishers were around all
day and were often to be seen fishing and even plunge bathing from the
mooring ropes.

Luxor Berth

Day Eight:
Another lazy morning before heading for home after lunch but managed to
see all of yesterdays garden birds one last time before departing. Thankfully,
House Sparrow managed not to be my last Egyptian bird (as it seems to be
everywhere else I go abroad!) but a fine rusty red Nile Valley Swallow gliding
over the runway as we taxied out.

We went with the African Safari Club and our ship was called the MS Star of
Luxor. The boat itself was clean and comfortable with all rooms being air
conditioned and en-suite. It is worth paying the small supplement to upgrade
to the third deck as you are further away from the engines and are afforded a
higher and therefore better view of the magnificent Nile.

The food was excellent, well cooked and certainly multi-cultural but not
overly spicy for the English pallet! Drinks are an extra but to be honest the
temperature put you off anything but water which can be purchased at all
time. While others were running up bar bills, we spent under £20 in the
week and all by one coffee was on water! A good opportunity for a detox! No
one was seriously ill with digestive problems (despite what we had been
warned) and biting insects whilst on the river seemed non-existant.

All in all a fabulous week of culture, scenery, history and good birding.
http://www.nilecruised.com